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Umar's terror group still active: Police

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Jakarta Globe - February 13, 2012

Farouk Arnaz – As recently as last year, a terror network had held military training and exercises on a small island in Southeast Sulawesi, pointing to signs that it is still active, an anti-terror squad member said on Sunday.

The officer, who declined to be named, said that the information had been obtained from the questioning of a recently arrested suspect believed to belong to the Abu Umar terror network.

The officer said Sabar, who is also known as Bacho or Ridho and is now considered a terror suspect, had conducted the training. Bacho and another terror suspect, Udin Bubur, the officer said, were high on the police list of wanted terror suspects.

"They held the preparation [for jihad] by holding military training in a small island that locals call Kura Kura Island in southeast Sulawesi," the officer said.

Police were now trying to find out who had taken part in the training and where the funds came from, as well as what weapons were used.

"The key is with Bacho, who we believed is an alumnus of the Jamaah Islamiyah military academy in the southern Philippines," he said. "The two are just as dangerous. Udin, we are convinced, is holding an M-16 rifle he owns and five other firearms he had received from Abu Umar. Sabar is the military trainer."

Abu Umar was arrested last July as he was trying to smuggle firearms from the southern Philippines into Indonesia. The group he led was said to be planning an attack on the Singaporean embassy in Jakarta and to abduct and kill Shiites in predominantly Sunni Indonesia. Police said that Umar's group was financing its activities by the sales of illegal firearms.

On Wednesday, Mulyadi, a wanted terror suspect believed to be part of the Abu Umar's terrorist network, turned himself in to police. His questioning has led to the finding of several firearms in a number of locations, including in Depok, police said.

Last month, prosecutors indicted Umar as well as nine of his followers on charges of terrorism and providing illicit weapons. Umar was also sought for supplying weapons to a group that attacked a police post in Loki, Ambon, in 2005, leaving five officers dead.

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